Above the mist

thanks for the kind words everyone.   a little about my musical  background...  i've played the guitar for 35 years or so and have been writing and recording for a long time, in different styles over the years. playing other peoples music is harder for me for some reason so i just write and improvise my own. i play some simple keyboards/synths which i use in my flute recordings. i play everything that you hear, except when there's a female voice .  

the thunder that was used on Thunder on the plains was recorded by sticking a mic in a window and recording for a while during one of the longest, rolling thunderstorms  i'd heard in a long time.  fortunately there was enough recorded to make a song out of.  i listened to it back and improvised the two flutes that you hear.

 my friend f

the story of how i picked up the native american flute (NAF) is kind of interesting.  the mother of a friend from work (Lori) was in the Ozarks and broke her hip while being transferred to her wheelchair, she's had MS for 35+ years, and while in the hospital down there a minister was visiting patients and would play on a NAF that he had on his hip to soothe the patients.  Lori was so moved by her mothers reaction to it that she ordered a special one and although she had never played an instrument before was determined to learn.   right after this my little burb had an arts/eats festival and i came across a new store that had just opened with all sorts of cool native made things and tere were NAF's, so i bought one to learn and teach her if i could and found out i could play it from the start. i'd always wanted to play a wind instrument so kept at it and recorded my first cd during that first year, and a second the next year. my dream of teaching Lori never came to pass, we're on different shifts and she is busy caring after her husband, Darren,  who has also been diagnosed with progressive  MS (what are the odds of that?) and her mother. i've given them both the two cd's and they love to listen to them and take their mind off things.  there is something about these seemingly simple instruments that affect people.  i did get to play for Darren a little bit once when she brought him to meet me at a park, and maybe one day i'll get to play for her mother before she passes...

what a long strange trip it's been....